Group 8:

Amy Jacob Micheal Cherry Max Hickey

Luke Dowling Stephen Mahady Allan Kantelberg

*Mini-Showcase

Our Mission Statement: Elderly people often suffer from falls and other accidents that render them helpless and unable to call for help.  

To prevent this we will endeavour to create an effective method to limit the damage these accidents can cause.

Using our research from surveys and meeting with stakeholders we discovered:

Improved communication methods between the user and carer could reduce the damage sustained

from falls or related accidents

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%73.3% 53.3% 66.7%

Mobility

Sensory De-ficiencies

Communica-tions

*LifelineLifeline is a device worn on the wrist that acts as a link between the user and their carer in the case of an emergency

It consists of three different components:* A skin sensitive

touch pad * An

accelerometer* A heart rate

monitor

Lifeline is a unique solution as it does not solely require user input to alert the carer to an emergency

*Existing Solutions*There are already a few existing solutions for

our problem. However, from our research we found that many users find these solutions:

•LIMITED

•DIFFICULT TO USE

•STIGMATIZING

*Currently the most common solution is a pressure sensitive panic button that is connected to a paging device for the carer

*Why is a new solution

necessary?From our research into existing solutions and from meeting frequently with our stakeholders we believe a new solution for this problem is necessary because:

*Users felt unsafe without an immediate and easy to use communication device on their person to contact help in a case of emergency

*Existing solutions are lacking certain elements which would help make the user more confident in the device

Our solution hopes to give greater security to our stakeholders by having three different components:

*User friendly skin sensitive emergency touchpad

*Accelerometer to alert carers or staff in case of falls

* Pulse Monitor alerts carers in the case of an abnormal heart rate

*Our Solution

*Our Design ProcessMarket research

to see what is needed

Brainstorming

Generated our three concepts

Chose selected concept based on feedback

from stakeholders

Finalized concept and

design

Ordered Parts

Began programming

digital components

Re-ordered some

components

Started combining different

components

Implemented coding

Tested design

Final tweaking of design before

the showcase

*Validation

When we showed our solution to a focus group of 8 residents in Tara Winthrop this was some of the feedback we received:

*“I like the way it is less obvious (than the current panic button)” – User #5

*“I would feel safer knowing that it wouldn’t necessarily rely on me to activate the alarm” – User #2

*“It would make me feel much more comfortable when I’m doing things on my own during the day” – User #1

*BenefitsCompared to a standard panic button consisting of a pendant and pager kit, our solution:

*Gives more security to the user and their carer• Due to the combined response of three different emergency

situation detectors, in the case of a fall/heart attack/stroke etc. the carer will be alerted without the elderly person needing to press the sensor

*The panic ‘button’ is easier to activate than a regular pressure sensitive button

*The entire device is more discreet for the user